Mic preamp levels

[tallman1]

I'm using the mic preamps in my 1202 VLZ board for recording to my computer. I'm curious to know how high I can set the trim level if I'm sending the signal directly out through the channel inserts.

The manual describes how to set the trim levels to avoid clipping, but is this necessary if I'm sending the signal directly out?

I'm finding that when I set the levels as described in the manual, my soundcard still has plenty of headroom left. Ideally, I'd like to record my signal as hot as possible without clipping my soundcard. Will I be pushing the preamps too hard if I turn them up beyond what the manual recommends.

 

[The Green Hornet]

Yo Taller than normal:

Hey, to paraphrase the Blue of Bear -- "push up the faders and record."

If you want to push the levels, you need to use a good mic pre and run that into a RNC compressor, or whatever compressor you like, and then run the signal to the recorder. You will be amazed at the results after you twitch, "Like in Samantha's Nose," the dials.

Now, just because I like the RNC which I think is a great buy, and I don't work for them or sell them, doesn't mean that you can't find one you like.

I like to run the levels up to the "red line," especially on vocals so I can get that UP front vocal sound. Over the past years, many R/R producers said that the vocal is not as important as the BEAT. Well, I disagree. If the production is centered on a vocal, the vocal should be the up front horse.

Green Hornet

 

[DigitMus]

Despite a lot of nay-saying, the Mackie pre-amps are quite seviceable - BUT they don't behave well when pushed too hard. I agree that a compressor is a better way to get more apparent level, but the bottom line is: you have to use your ears. Without actually being there, it's hard to know whether you're running out of headroom. Turn 'em up and see if the sound degrades. HOWEVER - if you're recording at 24 bits, you might want to go ahead and leave the headroom in there. There's no need to fill up all the bits - I think you'll find that most pro studios record their tracks at -12 to -18db. They want that extra headroom to avoid math/summing/truncation errors when processing/mixing the tracks.
There are a number of preamps that can add pleasant non-linearities (i.e. distortion) when driven hard, but even people who are fond of using these (rather expensive) preamps in this manner will then back off or pad the output when recording to leave processing room in their tracks.

Scott